1. Field of the Invention
The present invention generally relates to a protecting circuit of the semiconductor factory automation, and more particularly to a circuit for protecting a processing tool and a robotic transfer apparatus with standardized mechanical interface (SMIF), which is automatically activated to disable the load/unload function of the robotic transfer apparatus if the processing tool is not in a proper operating condition.
2. Description of the Prior Art
The need for reduced cost per unit wafer processed drives the semiconductor industry continuously to search for ways to increase wafer yield and reduce production cycle time. It is well recognized that overall semiconductor wafer fabrication system productivity increases are achieved by ensuring a constant supply of wafers at each tool, thus, the transaction capability of the factory material handling system affecting the number of wafer carriers circulating in a factory. As the wafer size has increased, the handling of wafers has become more limited to factory automation, instead of manual handling, to accommodate the increase in size and weight of wafer pods. In other words, the transaction of an interface apparatus transferring a wafer or a wafer cassette into a processing or metrology tool becomes more and more important and complicated.
Semiconductor wafer handling and processing have always required extreme care to avoid contamination due to ambient and process-born particles. Such contamination lowers process yields, thus making the manufacture of integrated circuits more expensive and time consuming. The standardized mechanical interface (SMIF) system is developed not only to facilitate semiconductor wafer fabrication, but also to reduce particle fluxes onto semiconductor wafers during storage and transport of the wafers through the semiconductor fabrication process. A standardized mechanical interface (SMIF) system has three main components: sealed pods used for storing and transporting wafer cassettes, a mini-environment supplied with ultraclean air flows surrounding cassette load ports and wafer processing areas of processing stations so that the environments inside the pods and mini-environment become miniature clean spaces, and robotic transfer assemblies to load/unload wader cassettes and/or wafers from the sealed pods to the processing toll without contamination of the wafers in the wafer cassette from external environment. The standardized mechanical interface (SMIF) system is therefore an effective interface between an operator and the process tool providing a continuous, ultra-clean environment for the wafers as they move through the wafer fab.
Recently, robotic apparatus and other machines having a standardized mechanical interface (SMIF) apparatus is designed to integrate wafer cassette loading and unloading into a wafer processing and metrology tools. Thus, the operation interface is becoming more complicated. The use of safety sensors for detecting whether the interface apparatus is in a proper operating condition is belonged to the control interface of the machines itself, and the complicated operation interface between the robotic apparatus and the processing tool puts a burden on an operator resulting in improper operation. For example, if the platform of the processing tool is not ready (or not xe2x80x9chomexe2x80x9d) that is not detected by the safety sensors of the robotic machine, and the operator starts the unloading operation, the wafer and either the robotic machine or the processing tool can be damaged. On the other hand, the loading/unloading apparatus has a robotic arm. In general, the manufacturers of the loading/unloading apparatus and the processing apparatus are difference, so that the operator makes a mistake about the work to result in the miss-operation between the robotic arm and the processing apparatus. These artificial faults always make the robotic arm collide with the processing apparatus or the boats on the processing apparatus, it causes the processing apparatus or the boats to be damaged, and hence, addition of the costs very much.
While lots of alarms of the control interface have been generally useful, but the aim to simplify the operation interface and to reduce the burden of the operator for preventing improper operation or miss-operation is continuously demanded. Thus, it is a desire to provide a system and a method for protecting the interface apparatus from damage due to improper operation or miss-operation by a foolproof protection system between the processing tool and the interface apparatus.
In accordance with the above description, a new and improved protecting circuit system between the processing apparatus and the standardized mechanical interface (SMIF) is therefore necessary, so as to raise the stability of the operation between the processing apparatus and standardized mechanical interface (SMIF), and to reduce the artificial faults and maintained cost.
In accordance with the present invention, a protecting circuit system is provided that substantially overcomes the drawbacks of the above mentioned problems between the processing apparatus and standardized mechanical interface (SMIF) by using existing conventional operation.
Accordingly, it is a main object of the present invention to provide a protecting circuit system between the processing apparatus and standardized mechanical interface (SMIF). This invention can install a protecting circuit between the processing apparatus and standardized mechanical interface (SMIF) to avoid the miss-operation that cause damage to the equipments, and the protecting circuit also raise the stability for operating the equipments. Thus, this invention can reduce the maintainable cost of the conventional apparatus in order to correspond to economic effect. Therefore, the present invention is appropriate for deep sub-micron technology in providing semiconductor apparatus.
Another object of the present invention is to provide a protecting circuit. The protecting circuit of the present invention can catch the outputted signals from the processing apparatus, and the outputted signals is logically calculated by way of using a logical device to produce a local controlling signal, the protecting circuit then transports the local controlling signal into the standardized mechanical interface (SMIF) to control the operation of the robotic arm. In order to avoid affecting the current that is used to operate the apparatus, the protecting circuit utilizes the metal-oxide semiconductor (MOS) device having the property of the voltage induction to catch the signals and the Transistor-to-Transistor Logic (TTL) having the property of the current induction to drive the equipment. Therefore, the present invention is a device that can correspond to the requirement of the industry.
In accordance with the present invention, a protecting circuit between the processing apparatus and the standardized mechanical interface (SMIF) is disclosed. First of all, a processing apparatus that is utilized in the semiconductor industry, a protecting circuit and an automatic running apparatus having the standardized mechanical interface (SMIF) are provided. The processing apparatus comprises a carrying platform that can free rotate itself, and the processing apparatus itself can product two singles in accordance with the load/unload states: one signal is a goods-stated signal (Pr) that is outputted from an output terminal of the goods-stated signal; another signal is a stage-stated signal (H) that is outputted from an output terminal of the stage-stated signal. When the carrying platform has no goods thereon, a goods-stated signal that is transported from the processing apparatus is ┌0┘, otherwise the goods-stated signal is ┌1┘. When the carrying platform itself rotates to a direction that is not located on the site for carrying the goods, a stage-stated signal that transported from the processing apparatus is ┌0┘, otherwise the stage-stated signal is ┌1┘. Furthermore, the automatic running apparatus with the standardized mechanical interface (SMIF) comprises: a robotic arm, a placing device and a circuit system having a plurality of linking ports.
Moreover, the protecting circuit comprises: a voltage-induction device, a logical device and two electric-lighting devices, wherein the voltage-induction device comprises a plurality of not gates, and the logical device comprises a plurality of or gates, and two electric-lighting devices comprises a light-emitting diode (LED). The input terminations of the voltage-induction device are connected with the output terminal of the goods-stated signal and output terminal of the stage-stated signal of the processing apparatus, so as to receive the signals from the processing apparatus into the protecting circuit. The input terminations of the logical device are connected with the output terminations of the voltage-induction device, so as to logically calculate the signals from the processing apparatus. A part of the output terminations of the logical device are connected with two electric-lighting devices, so as to display the state of operating the processing apparatus, and the other of the output terminations of the logical device are connected with the plurality of linking ports of the circuit system in the automatic running apparatus with the standardized mechanical interface (SMIF) to control the operation of the robotic arm in the automatic running apparatus with the standardized mechanical interface (SMIF)